The wildcard spots have been announced

sjm said:
These wild card picks are fully justifiable.

Rodney was in fourth place in the points and had a solid year. During his Hall of Fame induction speech, he announced he will retire sometime in 2017, so this will be his final Mosconi Cup.

As I noted in my trip report on the US Open, Justin Bergman showed very solid form at the US Open, narrowly losing to both David Alcaide (Euro tour ranking #3) and Dennis Orcullo. I saw both matches, and if Justin plays the kind of pool he played in those two matches, he'll be a valuable member of Team USA.

No doubt, a case could have been made for Oscar Dominguez and I'm sure Josh Roberts got serious consideration as the hot player of the moment.

Good luck to Team USA.
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I'll be sad to see Rodney retire if he really follows through on that. One of my favorite all time players. I wonder what plans he has in terms of making a living. It's not like pro pool players have a nest egg. I wonder if he'll have to keep playing out of necessity.

In terms of Bergman- I think he is the 2nd best 9 ball player in the USA, so it will be good to have him on the team. Oscar has a right to be upset somewhat. I think he is about as good as Woodward, but I guess Woodward qualified in the top 3. I think Bergman is better than both Oscar and Skyler though.

Earl has been playing well in the last few months too, but he would almost assuredly meltdown again the MC.
 
Kid Dynomite said:
These things matter to me! It's about "Character" and "who" represents me/us/USA is important to me. You don't have to care or cringe when that stuff surfaces because he may be your friend and you are a fan of his. But, to some people, myself included it matters. It hurts my sense of justice in America when good people follow the straight and narrow lose out on questionable grounds.

KD
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Why do you keep implying that Morris and Mark are buddies?
 
Kid Dynomite said:
How could you "accept" selection to the cup based on your friendship with the captain like this??? As a player and friend of the captain. But, who is going to turn down a $10,000 to $20,000 jelly roll???

My spidey sense is tingling and the whole "Ethical Bells" have my ears ringing!!!

Now, you have to ask yourself or think there is some kind of BEEF between the two of them behind the snubbing??? Another issue is the possibility of kick backs, extremely unlikely!!! But, I hate seeing good people getting screwed.

KD

KD
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Even insinuating the possibility of this makes you a total retard. Please go crawl under some hard dense object.
 
I can understand Oscar's disappointment and that a strong case could be made for him being deserving of a spot, but to make claims of nepotism and kickbacks?

I mean, it isn't like Morris and Bergman aren't two incredible players. This is a good group for the US team.
 
You lot don't half like to moan. It was only the top 3 that automatically made the team. Bergman was always going to be first pick unless Shane didn't make the top 3.

Europe will be doing the same with Daz, don't think he was anywhere close on the automatic qualifying, but he is an obvious captain's pick because of previous Mosconi Cups.

Woudn't worry about it too much anyway, you are gonna get your ass handed to you in a few weeks in Ally Pally :D
 
Grantstew said:
You lot don't half like to moan. It was only the top 3 that automatically made the team. Bergman was always going to be first pick unless Shane didn't make the top 3.

Europe will be doing the same with Daz, don't think he was anywhere close on the automatic qualifying, but he is an obvious captain's pick because of previous Mosconi Cups.

Woudn't worry about it too much anyway, you are gonna get your ass handed to you in a few weeks in Ally Pally :D
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The point system is a joke. It is only there to get more money out of the players. I see some influential people in pool in America who now are not happy with the results saying that they Mark Wilson should have the ability to overide the point system if he believes it is best for the team. Again the point system is a joke. I think a few people saw that from the beginning.

You do make a great point about the system as it is right now though. After the top three the points are 100% irrelevant unless you are one who has sympathy and wants to reward the people who chased and got close. Forget about the reason given for choosing Sky and Bergman last year. Wilson does not have to use the same reason to choose this years final two. But, when Wilson decided to pick outside of the highest point finishers for the final two, I think he should have picked Johnny Archer. Nothing wrong with Bergman or Morris but Johnny is Americas best for a MC type of event. He gives USA the best chance of winning.
 
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Arete said:
The point system is a joke. It is only there to get more money out of the players. I see some influential people in pool in America who now are not happy with the results saying that they Mark Wilson should have the ability to overide the point system if he believes it is best for the team. Again the point system is a joke. I think a few people saw that from the beginning.

You do make a great point about the system as it is right now though. After the top three the points are 100% irrelevant unless you are one who has sympathy and wants to reward the people who chased and got close. Forget about the reason given for choosing Sky and Bergman last year. Wilson does not have to use the same reason to choose this years final two. But, when Wilson decided to pick outside of the highest point finishers for the final two, I think he should have picked Johnny Archer. Nothing wrong with Bergman or Morris but Johnny is Americas best for a MC type of event. He gives USA the best chance of winning.
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I actually agree that Johnny would be good for the US team, but he hasn't really made any effort to qualify, so why should he be picked? I watched him play near faultless pool at the Hangelar Open this year, so he can still play on his day. Is he a better pick than Rodney or Justin, naahhh...

Since there is a minimum $10K if you are on the team, then I think there 100% should be a qualifying system. Otherwise it's just an invitational, you should have to play well for the season to get in that team, just like the Ryder Cup.
 
I love this line up just hope mike can keep it together and play at his best think we have great shot this year let the rolls be with us very excited to see the cup this year :thumbup:
 
This is from the facebook/Fargorate
 

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I am an Oscar fan. Respect him as a player and a person.

That being said, wasn't there some drama early in the year about Ernesto forfeiting to him when they matched up in a Points event or two?

31 point difference is pretty close. If he had played and lost those, what would the difference be?
 
Congrats to Morris and Bergman. I think most everyone with a pulse knew the Rocket was going to make one last appearance at the cup, and he certainly played well this year to make the team.

Bergman is a great player, but I stand by a reply I made to another post earlier yesterday. What team USA needed was a floor general, not another spirited player who shot well but wasn't a leader. Bergman is an amazing talent, and definitely an upgrade over Oscar in that respect. But this team already had plenty of talent. They needed someone to unite behind when the going got tough, like the Euros often used to with Ralph Souquet, then Neils Feijen, and even at times Darren Appleton. I don't see that person on team USA, but Mark Wilson is a lot closer to the situation than I am.

I'll say this: knowing Wilson was Bergman's personal coach and Bergman has been on the team every year since Wilson took over, I had heavy suspicions that Bergman would end up on this team. While I respect his playing ability, I did not see enough the last two cups to convince me he was what was needed this year. Now I could see trading Morris for Bergman and then selecting someone like Oscar, but I've also seen a little bit of the Earl Strickland melancholy in Bergman. He's also an interesting person to try and figure out who the best partner is.

USA is stocked full of talent this year, but I still don't see a leader that can unite all that talent in a single push. I like Captain Wilson's philosophy, but if USA doesn't get out front early I can't see this team coming back from behind to win. And frankly, I don't care if Shane did just win his fifth US Open. He's only won 1 Mosconi Cup, his record in the Mosconi Cup is not necessarily indicative he will be successful (especially since this is a Europe year). But I'll still be rooting for USA all the way!!!
 
Has Team Europe been completely picked yet? I know there is Jayson Shaw, Niels Feijen, Mark Gray, but who else?
 
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